Washington’s Minimum Wage Workers Get A Raise In 2020

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn’t increased in a decade, but 21 states plan increases in 2020.

A new calendar year means a boost in the paychecks of minimum-wage American workers in 21 states where new minimum wage standards take effect in 2020.

The highest of the new rates is in Washington State, where a 2016 voter-approved ballot initiative called for a $13.50 minimum wage floor in 2020, nearly twice the federal minimum wage. The Washington rate is up from $12 an hour in 2019. There is no difference in the law for tipped employees. The new rate takes effect Jan. 1, 2020. In 2021, the wage floor will be increased yearly based on cost of living, as calculated by the federal Consumer Price Index.

The federal minimum wage rate has remained unchanged at $7.25 an hour since 2009, but state legislatures — and, in some cases, voters themselves through ballot measures — have approved minimum wage increases. In some cases, counties and cities have also set minimum wage floors.

In 2015, the Seattle City Council was the first in a major city to enact a $15 minimum wage plan.

The 21 states enacting minimum wage hikes are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington. The information was compiled by govdocs.com, a website that curates government documents on employment law for companies worldwide.

The analysis showed widespread disparity in how minimum wage workers who are tipped are treated. In New Mexico, for example, the 2020 minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.35 an hour, compared with $9 and $8.98 an hour, respectively, in neighboring states Arizona and Colorado.

Several other states boosted minimum wage to $12 an hour, and several also increased the floor only modestly. For example, Florida’s minimum wage goes up less than 25 cents per hour, to $8.46, from $8.25 an hour in 2019.